### 97

Your room is facing you when you reach the top of the stairs. The door is unlocked and you enter to find that it is a well-appointed room with a comfortable bed and nice furnishings. As you eat your meal of steamed rice, fresh vegetables, and diced lamb, you listen to the rain beating against the window pane and the sounds of jollity in the taproom below. You begin to wish you had stayed with Anseng, but another long ride on the highway awaits you tomorrow and you are in need of a good night’s sleep.

You wake at dawn to the sound of a cockerel crowing. It stopped raining during the night and sunlight is streaming through the room’s solitary window. You gather up your equipment and descend the stairs to the taproom. Anseng is waiting there and he greets you with a smile. Tzu approaches from the adjoining kitchen and Anseng offers to pay him for your rooms and food. Politely, the friendly owner refuses to accept his money and Anseng does not argue with his decision.

‘It’s the least I can do for you, my friend,’ says Tzu, ‘after all the help you have given me in the past. I wish you both a safe journey. I hope you’ll come visit us again before too long.’

Turn to 347.